by Len Maxwell
Member since:
December 17, 2005

Step Out of Yourself (Saturday Writing Essential)

January 14, 2012 12:06 AM UTC
views: 0 | 17 people recommend this | comments: 54

Gosh, this has been a long year and I’m already tired so I think I’ll take a day off.

Last August,  Joann B.  wrote an amazing challenge  STEP OUT OF YOURSELF (Saturday Writing Essential); and I think that’s what we’ll do this week.

* * *

Well, I've just discovered that Len and I share the exact birthdate, which means that our natal charts are very similar (although I doubt he was born in mid-town Manhattan), which further means that this should be a piece of cake, right? HAH! We'll see about that.

 

This Week’s Challenge:

As a writer, you draw inspiration from the familiar world around you. You observe and take note of details which your imagination weaves into the fabric of your work. Your time and place in the universe has a great deal to do with how you see the world. Picture yourself in another time; another place. You're not a hero or a villain or an important historical personage, you're you. Tell us a story that you observe – a vignette from the life happening around you; an event important only to its participants.

 

Ideas:

You might be a camel driver in Marco Polo's baggage train. Would you have any contact with the great man, or is he perhaps not so impressive. What takes place around you?

Are you one of the unknown thousands of people driven from homes that became a dustbowl in the 1930s?

Maybe you're a llama herder in Ecuador or Bolivia. Is it a peaceful existence? What are the threats? What is the story of your friend, who died?

Are you the wife of a fur trapper? Where? What is that like?

Perhaps you are your own great- or great,great-grandparent, finding yourself in a strange, new country.

 

Watch Out For:

Don't succumb to the temptation to be someone grand; don't be Julius Caesar, or Elizabeth I, or Copernicus. Be the wine merchant two streets away, who sells Copernicus his table wine.

 

Recap:

Maybe it has something to do with the new year. The last time I asked you to write something about yourself everyone shied away from the challenge. This time -- whew! The following posts are so good that you’ll kick yourself later if you don’t read them right now. Well, what are you waiting for? Go read these.

How old is old?-satgweby karen vaughan

I Once Stole Something (Saturday Writing Essential)  by Len Maxwell

If I Die Young, Bury Me in Satin...... Saturday Writing Essential (SWE)  by jeanne clarke

MY SATURDAY WRITING ESSENTIAL "CONFESSION" IS A TRAGIC PROFILE  by Phillip DeNise

Saturday Writing Essential - No Barley and Hops for Me....  by Janet “Jax” B.

Saturday Writing Essential (Jan 7, 2012): People die, so what?  by Chuck S.

Saturday Writing Essential I Once Helped Myself...  by Patricia J.

Saturday Writing Essential: The Tumbleweed  by Éilísh Frazier

Saturday Writing Essential: You Get What You Ask For  by G.H. Monroe

SatWE Jan 8th If I do not see you...does that make you a ghost?  By Korak 257

Searching For Peace In My Life ~ Saturday Writing Essential  by Connie C.

Something about me. satgwe  by karen vaughan

With Tail Between my Legs ~ for Saturday Writing Essential  by JOHN BECK

You Didn't Know That About Me for Saurday Writing Essential  by Karen E.

 

Submissions to Previous Challenges:

Hmm, this was from 11 Jul 2011. I don’t normally screw up that badly, but I did this time.

THE SEEKING - (Saturday Writing Essential)  by Joann B.

 

Weekly reminder: Don't forget to recommend an article that you like (to learn why, read Ann Marcaida's article Attract More Writers and Artists to Gather!). Also, try to place a comment on at least one article and say more than you liked the piece. Tell the author what worked and what needs work.

 

The Rules:

  • Put this challenge statement at the beginning or end of your submission so readers will know what you’re supposed to do.

Challenge: As a writer, you draw inspiration from the familiar world around you. You observe and take note of details which your imagination weaves into the fabric of your work. Your time and place in the universe has a great deal to do with how you see the world. Picture yourself in another time; another place. You're not a hero or a villain or an important historical personage, you're you. Tell us a story that you observe – a vignette from the life happening around you; an event important only to its participants.

  • There is a limit of three submissions from each member per day. If you’re extremely prolific, spread out your work and post only three submissions per day.
  • Post to Gather Writing Essential.
  • Tag your submission with SatWE.
  • Include (Saturday Writing Essential) as part of your title.
  • I ask that you make your submission(s) by next Friday afternoon.

Good Writing!

Comments: 54

Elsie Duggan Jan 14, 2012, 1:01am UTC
good prompt Len, should get lots of good responses, love, Elsie
William Dotani Jan 14, 2012, 2:30am UTC
Please, no dandelions.
JOHN BECK Jan 14, 2012, 3:21pm UTC
Bill? Perverted mind? Who woulda thunk it?
Len Maxwell Jan 14, 2012, 7:23pm UTC
Thanks, Elsie.

Hmm, dandelions. Okay, you're one dandelion in a field and you're watching all the others being cut down by a weed eater. You'll have to take it from there.
William Dotani Jan 14, 2012, 2:32am UTC
My health has been a severe roller coaster for almost a month. This prompt gave my sukebe mind a plot I'll probably have to flag.
Pam Brittain Jan 14, 2012, 3:17pm UTC
Oooohhhh - this should be good.
Len Maxwell Jan 14, 2012, 7:26pm UTC
I'm already liking it -- don't let us down.
William Dotani Jan 16, 2012, 4:08am UTC
I have roughly a bit more than half written. I'll have to flag it.
Mary Ann Slavcheff Jan 14, 2012, 6:14am UTC
This is a good one. In my journal this morning before I even turned on the computer, I wrote about me and how I interact with fictional worlds.

When I was a kid watching television westers I wanted to live in the west. I have written mystery short stories, but I have never been a detective.

I don't know what I will di here. It will take at least a day to think about it.
Len Maxwell Jan 14, 2012, 7:38pm UTC
From what you've said, you're in a good position to write something wonderful.
Kimberly Blackadar Jan 14, 2012, 6:34am UTC
What a great prompt! You're going to get some incredible responses.
Len Maxwell Jan 14, 2012, 7:39pm UTC
I'm glad I do this occasionally because many of our writers have better ideas than I do.
Kimberly Blackadar Jan 14, 2012, 11:13pm UTC
I think you have great ideas, but everyone deserves a break now and then.
JOHN BECK Jan 14, 2012, 7:36am UTC
Out of our comfort zones, our characters intact. Great idea, Len.
Len Maxwell Jan 14, 2012, 8:09pm UTC
I wish I could take the credit for it, but I'm just copying what Joann wrote.
Barbary C. Jan 14, 2012, 8:53am UTC
As a child I identified myself with Ann of Limberlost.

So we must write, as John says, out of our comfort zones...

This truly is an inventive challenge.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:17pm UTC
The obvious approach would be for you to set yourself as a handmaiden. Or -- be strange -- and write about the blacksmith who just saw Ann occasionally.
Patricia J. Jan 14, 2012, 10:30am UTC
I've always been very interested in what my tribal family lived through, so I think I'll go that way with this prompt!
Pam Brittain Jan 14, 2012, 3:18pm UTC
Please tell us what tribe. I'm 1/4 native american indian, but have no idea what tribe.
Patricia J. Jan 14, 2012, 3:20pm UTC
Otoe Missouri and Pawnee, they live next to each other on reservations in Oklahoma.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:19pm UTC
That would make a wonderful tale.
J. Reid Jan 14, 2012, 11:07am UTC
Can I write as the mother of a lost Astronaut, a real person, who was lost in the Challenger disaster? Smiles...

Thank you for submitting to: Not Gathering Dust!
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:18pm UTC
That would be fantastic.
jeanne clarke Jan 14, 2012, 11:11am UTC
Perhaps I could observe a young Len, giving his homework to another to do because they do it so much better than he does....or a young Len, handing over his chores to someone else who does them much better.....
Perhaps I'll observe myself getting someone else to write my story, hand it to Len, who will hand it to another to read because he or she does it so much better....
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:21pm UTC
No matter how you wrote it, it would be funny. I was the guy who always did my homework, never helped anyone else, and never had to look at the other kids' work.
jeanne clarke Jan 14, 2012, 11:13am UTC
either that or I'll head myself out to the olde Twilight Zone ....
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:21pm UTC
Hmm, yep, I think that would be best.
Bernard C. Jan 14, 2012, 12:50pm UTC
Sounds like a good challenge - some out of the box thinking required

Thanks for sharing and submitting to
The Surreal Circus.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:22pm UTC
Absolutely. Joann came up with a great idea for this one.
Pam Brittain Jan 14, 2012, 3:19pm UTC
I think I'll give this one a shot.
Pam Brittain Jan 14, 2012, 3:57pm UTC
I'm on my way to posting, but you made me look up a word which has many meanings. So, I'm not sure if my post will qualify.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:22pm UTC
First: what word?

Then: whatever you post will qualify.
Pam Brittain Jan 17, 2012, 3:36pm UTC
'vignette' I should have used Wikipedia. Webster's dictionary has piles of interpretations.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:41pm UTC
Do what I do -- use the easiest definition. It's a brief story or scene. Can't get much easier than that.
Janet "Jax" B. Jan 14, 2012, 3:31pm UTC
This will make for an interesting response....
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:23pm UTC
That is exactly what we try to do.
Ann Marcaida Jan 14, 2012, 4:10pm UTC
Now featured at Gather's Luminous Writers and Artists.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:23pm UTC
Thanks, Ann.
Irina Dimitric Jan 14, 2012, 4:40pm UTC
Great challenge for those who know how to write fiction. I'm totally hopeless in that department. So I'll have to give it a miss.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Jan 14, 2012, 6:17pm UTC
Another way to do this, Irina, might be to write a story about one of your relatives with whom you closely associate.
Irina Dimitric Jan 14, 2012, 6:29pm UTC
Thanks for the idea, Susan. I'll think about it.
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:38pm UTC
We're going to have to work on this, Irina. Every writer has a fiction story in them and it's a matter of getting them to actually write it.

Consider what Susan said and write about that relative. Now, change the relative to someone you don't know. If you can do that, you're writing fiction.
Irina Dimitric Jan 19, 2012, 11:31pm UTC
Actually, I have a story in my mind where a relative could serve as a character, but that is a long way away; I've never written fiction before and I'm a bit scared.
Connie C. Jan 16, 2012, 7:29am UTC
Len,

I hate to be the one to break the news to you but it does not look like you took the day off. :)
Len Maxwell Jan 17, 2012, 3:24pm UTC
Of course I did. Joann did all the thinking. I just formatted it.
Sheila Deeth Jan 17, 2012, 7:50pm UTC
Formatting is work.
Ed Da Head Toker Jan 17, 2012, 10:59pm UTC
koool prompt
Len Maxwell Jan 21, 2012, 1:28am UTC
Yep, worked okay.
amy s. Jan 20, 2012, 11:44am UTC
this was a cool prompt can not wait to see everyone's submissions
Len Maxwell Jan 21, 2012, 1:29am UTC
The list is posted and it was a great week.
Ms Lee P. Jan 20, 2012, 1:04pm UTC
Here's my story "Flying South for the Winter". I almost didn't make this week's deadline (or do you have a deadline) ... anyway I wrote a story. The story was easy but it took longer to draw the illustration picture on my MS Paint program than it usually takes me to draw a picture (LOL).
Len Maxwell Jan 21, 2012, 1:30am UTC
I hate to admit that I don't really have a deadline. I say I'd like to see things posted by Friday afternoon, but I really don't care. Your story would have been welcome anytime.
Joann B. Jan 21, 2012, 12:58am UTC
Well, it's almost 1 AM on Saturday, so I didn't really make it, but I posted, by gum, I did.
Len Maxwell Jan 21, 2012, 1:28am UTC
Got it and you did so well.

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